Conditional reminders for conveyed electronic messages

ABSTRACT

The present invention discloses a solution for providing conditional reminders for electronic messages. The solution can identify an electronic message conveyed from a sender to a recipient, wherein the electronic message is an email message or text exchange message. A software program can determine a response time and a response condition for the electronic message. When the response time expires and when the response condition is unsatisfied, a software program can present a reminder to the sender and/or the recipient, where the reminder indicates that a response is due. When a software program detects a recipient action that satisfies the response condition before the response time expires, no reminder will be presented to either the sender or the recipient.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to the field of collaboration softwareand, more particularly, to conditional reminders for conveyed electronicmessages.

2. Description of the Related Art

An importance of electronic communication technologies continues toincrease as technology bridges geographic barriers, which once limitedinterpersonal interactions. For example, large organizations areincreasing organizing activities along functional instead of geographiclines, which results in project specific teams being physically locatedin different regions. Despite these distances, email, text exchangemessages (e.g., chat, instant messaging, and text messaging),co-browsing, teleconferencing, and other communication technologiespermit team members to easily, efficiently, and effectively interact. Anequivalent phenomenon has permeated social interactions as well, asrecognized with an increasing utilization of social networking sites,such as MYSPACE, where geographic distance between social contacts islargely irrelevant.

An increasing reliance upon electronic communication technologiesresults in many new challenges for communicators. For instance,communicators commonly receive numerous different forms of importantcommunications at approximately the same time. For example, a person canreceive a phone call concerning one matter, an email concerning another,and a text exchange message about a third. In the course of handling allof these communications, it is very easy for the person to overlook oneor more of the received communications. This is especially true if oneof the matters is time sensitive (i.e., an instant messaging messageasking if the person wants to go to lunch with a co-worker or friend,for example). Failure to respond in a timely fashion can result in amistaken impression that a message recipient is intentionally ignoring asender or believes the sender's correspondence to be relativelyunimportant.

At present, many communication suites include a scheduling or timemanagement component (e.g., a TODO list), which presents alerts ornotices in advance of events. These notices, however, fail tosignificantly help with the above problem. For one thing, establishing aTODO item based upon a received communication generally requires therecipient to actively take actions to either accept a TODO item or tocreate a TODO item. In regards to sending TODO items to be accepted, itis a bit presumptuous and/or can be bad etiquette for senders to conveyTODO items for many matters discussed in email or text exchangemessages, such as possible lunch plans. This practice generallyoverloads a recipient's calendar with “annoying” entries that obscureentries within the calendar that the recipient finds to be extremelyimportant. In regards to recipients establishing TODO items, the primaryreason that a communication is not responded to is that a recipient isdistracted by another matter or simply overlooks a correspondence. Ineither case, the recipient will certainly not take extra actions toestablish a TODO item, when an equivalent time could be spent simplyresponding to the received message. What is needed is a solution forproviding and/or configuring reminders for electronic messages so thatrecipients do not overlook important messages or respond in an untimelyfashion.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention discloses a solution for presenting conditionalreminders for responding to electronic messages in accordance with anembodiment of the inventive arrangements disclosed herein. Theconditional reminders can be conditioned upon whether a recipientresponds to a sender's message, where the reminder is presented only ifa response does not occur within an established time frame. Thereminders can be configured by a sender, by a recipient, or by both.Reminders can be presented upon a sender's device, upon a recipient'sdevice, or both. Additionally, the electronic messages can include emailmessages, text exchange messages (e.g., chat, instant messaging, andtext messaging), and the like.

The present invention can be implemented in accordance with numerousaspects consistent with the material presented herein. For instance, oneaspect of the present invention can include a method for providingconditional reminders for electronic messages. The method can identifyan electronic message conveyed from a sender to a recipient, wherein theelectronic message is an email message or a text exchange message (e.g.,chat message, instant message, and text message). A software program candetermine a response time and a response condition for the electronicmessage. When the response time expires and when the response conditionis unsatisfied, a software program can present a reminder to the senderand/or the recipient, where the reminder indicates that a response isdue. When a software program detects a recipient action that satisfiesthe response condition before the response time expires, no reminderwill be presented to either the sender or the recipient.

Another aspect of the present invention can include a method forpresenting reminders related to electronic messages. The method canidentify a sent electronic message. A conditional reminder establishedfor the electronic message can be detected, which specifies anevaluation time and at least one evaluation condition. Activitiesconducted with a message handling interface that a recipient of theelectronic message uses to interact can be monitored. Results frommonitoring the activities can be used to determine if the at least oneevaluation condition has been satisfied. When the evaluation timeexpires and when the at least one evaluation condition is unsatisfied, areminder can be presented the sender and/or the recipient, where thereminder indicates that an action relating to the sent and/or receivedelectronic message is needed.

Still another aspect of the present invention can include a softwareprogram for presenting reminders relating to electronic messages. Thesoftware program can include a condition evaluation engine configured toidentify a set of conditions established for an electronic message,which has been sent from a sender to a recipient. The set of conditionscan be message-specific conditions established by the sender and/or therecipient. The conditions that are able to be evaluated by the conditionevaluation engine include whether the electronic message has been readand whether the electronic message has been responded to. Whether theconditions have occurred is determined at an expiration of an evaluationresponse time, which is established for the electronic message by thesender and/or the recipient. At least one conditional action can betaken by the condition evaluation engine when the conditions areunsatisfied at the expiration of the evaluation response time. Theconditional action can include presenting a notification to the senderand/or to the recipient that indicates an action related to the receivedelectronic message is needed.

It should be noted that various aspects of the invention can beimplemented as a program for controlling computing equipment toimplement the functions described herein, or as a program for enablingcomputing equipment to perform processes corresponding to the stepsdisclosed herein. This program may be provided by storing the program ina magnetic disk, an optical disk, a semiconductor memory or any otherrecording medium. The program can also be provided as a digitallyencoded signal conveyed via a carrier wave. The described program can bea single program or can be implemented as multiple subprograms, each ofwhich interact within a single computing device or interact in adistributed fashion across a network space.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

There are shown in the drawings, embodiments which are presentlypreferred, it being understood, however, that the invention is notlimited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system that provides conditionalreminders for electronic messages in accordance with an embodiment ofthe inventive arrangements disclosed herein.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram in which a sender sends an electronic messagehaving sender established conditions associated with it in accordancewith an embodiment of the inventive arrangements disclosed herein.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram in which a recipient receives an electronicmessage having recipient established conditions associated with it inaccordance with an embodiment of the inventive arrangements disclosedherein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system 100 that provides conditionalreminders for electronic messages 142 in accordance with an embodimentof the inventive arrangements disclosed herein. In system 100, a sender110 using sending client 112 can convey an electronic message 142 over anetwork 140 to a receiving client 122. A digital content server 130 canoptionally be a communication intermediary between client 112 and client122. One or more deterministic conditions can be imposed upon theelectronic message 142 by the sender 110 and/or by the recipient 120.When the deterministic condition occurs, a reminder 124, 125 related tothe electronic message 142 can be presented to recipient 120 and/or thesender 110. The reminder 124 can, for example, indicate 161 that aresponse is due for the electronic message 142 and can provide multipleoptions 163-166 related to the response.

System 100 can be adapted for multiple different types of electroniccommunications, including email, text exchange, video teleconferencing,co-browsing, and the like. Text exchange includes any type of real-timeor near real time messaging involving text, such as Instant Messaging,text messaging, chatting, and the like. Depending upon a type ofelectronic communication used in system 100, digital content server 130can be implemented as an email server, a chat server, an instantmessaging server, and the like. Although a condition evaluation engine132 is shown in FIG. 1 as residing on the server 130, otherimplementations are contemplated. For example, in one implementation,engine 132 can be a client-side program that resides on clients 112 and122. In another implementation, engine 132 be implemented by a networkelement other than server 130; such as in an implementation where theconditional reminders are implemented as a Web service.

The reminder 124 is directly associated with the electronic message 142.Reminders 124 are only presented when response conditions associatedwith the message 142 have not been satisfied. Further, the reminders 124of system 100 are able to be directly integrated into an applicationthat sends/receives the electronic message 142. So when the message 142is an instant message, the reminders 142 are integrated within aninstant messaging application; and, when the message 142 is an emailmessage, the reminders 142 are directly integrated within an emailapplication.

This approach contrasts that of a contact management suite, such asOUTLOOK, where different applications using a common front end interfacehaving TODO, calendaring, and email capabilities exist. In the OUTLOOKapproach, reminder spawning items, such as TODO alerts are distinct fromelectronic mail items. Further, the TODO items of existing suitessharing a front end are not able to be linked to a set of responseconditions relating to recipient behavior regarding the electronicmessage 142.

Response conditions and associated reminders 124 prevent a recipient 120from inadvertently failing to respond to an electronic communication,which commonly occurs when the recipient 120 is distracted or when therecipient 120 is involved in multiple different electroniccommunications at once. A condition evaluation engine 132 can monitorbehavior associated with electronic message 142 against a set of message142 specific conditions, which can produce reminder 124 spawning eventsdepending upon a manner in which engine 132 evaluates conditions versesbehavior. The condition evaluation engine 132 can be a software programexecuted by server 130 or by a client 122, 112. Further, evaluationengine 132 can be located within a network element, which providesmessage reminders 124 as part of a Web service.

In one embodiment, the sending client 122 can include a message sendinginterface 114, which permits reminders 151 to be added to the electronicmessage 142. Different sender 110 configurable settings 153-155 can beestablished for message reminders. For example, a sender 110 can useinterface element 153 to specify whether reminders 124 are to bepresented to a recipient 120, to a sender 110, or both. A date/timeelement 155 can establish a date/time that a response to the message 142is due. The condition element 154 can establish one or more conditionsthat are to be evaluated when the date time from element 155 expires todetermine if a reminder 124 is to be presented. Condition can include,but are not limited to, determining whether the electronic message 142has been read by the recipient 120, determining whether the recipient120 has responded to the message 142, and always presenting a reminderat the established time 155. The time 155 can be an absolute time or arelative time (e.g., a reminder if ten minutes have passed from a timethe message was received and the recipient 120 has yet to respond).Sender 110 established conditions and reminder settings can be recordedas metadata of the electronic message 142 itself or can be contained ina separate file conveyed along with the message 142.

The receiving client 122 can include a message receiving interface 124,which permits the message 142 and reminder 124 to be presented to therecipient 120. Each reminder 124 can include text 161 informing therecipient 120 of details pertaining to a message 142, which has not beenproperly responded to. The details can, for example, indicate a subjectand/or context of the message 142, a time the message 142 was received,a time a response was due, and the like. An interface in which thereminder 124 is presented can provide an option 163 to view the originalmessage 142, to instantiate an application and initiate a reply 164 tothe message 142, and an option to ignore 165 the reminder 124.

Further, the interface 124 can permit a recipient 120 to configure 166reminder conditions for received electronic messages 142. Thus, thereminder 124 can be presented responsive to a sender 110 establishedcondition, a recipient 120 established condition, or a combination ofthe two. Recipient configurable settings 166 can include, but are notlimited to, establishing a response expiration time for replying to anincoming message 142. Different expiration times can be associated withdifferent types of messages; such as a ten minute reminder time forfailing to respond to an instant messaging communication and a twentyfour hour response time for failing to respond to an emailcommunication. Further, different reminder times can be established fordifferent senders 112 or groups of senders 112. Reminder times can varybased on message 142 content (e.g., based on recipient 120 establishedkey words for example), different times of day, different conditions ofapplication 124 (e.g., minimized or open, different available status'sset for recipient—available, busy, offline, etc, and other conditions),and the like.

Each of the clients 112, 122 can be a computing device able tosend/receive electronic messages. For example, the clients 112, 122 canbe computers, personal data assistants, mobile phones, mobile email ortext exchange devices, email or text exchange kiosks, entertainmentconsoles, media playing devices, and the like. The digital contentserver 130 can be any server, physical or virtual, that facilitatescommunications between the clients 122, 122. Server 130 refers tohardware and software needed to facilitate an exchange of the electronicmessages 142. Server 130 is an optional component of system 100 incontemplated embodiments where peer-to-peer connections exist betweenthe clients 112, 122.

The network 140 can include any hardware/software/and firmware necessaryto convey digital content encoded within carrier waves. Content can becontained within analog or digital signals and conveyed through data orvoice channels and can be conveyed over a personal area network (PAN) ora wide area network (WAN). The network 140 can include local componentsand data pathways necessary for communications to be exchanged amongcomputing device components and between integrated device components andperipheral devices. The network 140 can also include network equipment,such as routers, data lines, hubs, and intermediary servers whichtogether form a packet-based network, such as the Internet or anintranet. The network 140 can further include circuit-basedcommunication components and mobile communication components, such astelephony switches, modems, cellular communication towers, and the like.The network 140 can include line based and/or wireless communicationpathways.

Each of the clients 112, 122 and the server 130 can have access to oneor more data stores (not shown) within which electronic messages 142 andreminder settings can be stored. The various data stores of system 100can each be a physical or virtual storage spaces configured to storedigital information. The data stores can be physically implementedwithin any type of hardware including, but not limited to, a magneticdisk, an optical disk, a semiconductor memory, a digitally encodedplastic memory, a holographic memory, or any other recording medium. Thedata stores can be a stand-alone storage unit as well as a storage unitformed from a plurality of physical devices. Additionally, informationcan be stored within the data stores in a variety of manners. Forexample, information can be stored within a database structure or can bestored within one or more files of a file storage system, where eachfile may or may not be indexed for information searching purposes.Further, data stores can optionally utilize one or more encryptionmechanisms to protect stored information from unauthorized access.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram 200 in which a sender 205 sends an electronicmessage having sender 205 established conditions associated with it inaccordance with an embodiment of the inventive arrangements disclosedherein. Diagram 200 can be used in the context of system 100 or anysystem permitting conditional reminders against electronic messages.

In the diagram 200, a sender 205 can use an interface 210, such as atext exchange interface, to convey a text or other electronic message toa recipient. The interface 210 can include an option 215 to send amessage with a reminder. When the option 215 is selected, a reminderpopup 220 can appear that permits the sender 205 to specify 222 who areminder is to be presented to, which can include the sender 205, therecipient, or both. Reminder conditions 224 can also be specified, suchas triggering a reminder always, only when the sent message is unread,or only when a message hasn't been responded to. Sender 205 can furtherspecify a response due time 226, at which point the conditions 224 areto be evaluated to determine if a reminder should be presented.

It should be appreciated that it can be challenging to determine whethersome types of electronic messages (i.e., text exchange messages) havebeen read or not. A number of emerging techniques can be used for thisdetermination, any of which can be used for purposes of the presentinvention. For example, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/845,453entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING MESSAGE STATUS IN CHATMESSAGING” teaches a technique for inferring whether a chat (or othertext exchange) message has been read by a recipient.

Once settings have been specified for interface 220 and if a reminder isto be presented to a recipient (determined from settings of element222), a check can be performed to determine whether the sender 205 hassufficient permissions to establish a reminder on a recipient's machine.If not, a message 235 can be presented to the sender 205 indicating thathe/she lacks sufficient privileges to establish receiver-side reminders.In one implementation, after message 235 is presented, popup 220 canre-appear, with the option 222 for reminding the recipient being changedto disallow recipient reminders. If the sender 205 has been grantedprivileges to establish receiver-side reminders, then a message sentindication 230 can be presented to the sender 205.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram 300 in which a recipient receives an electronicmessage having recipient established conditions associated with it inaccordance with an embodiment of the inventive arrangements disclosedherein. Diagram 300 can be used in the context of system 100 or anysystem permitting conditional reminders against electronic messages.

In diagram 300, a recipient 305 can use an interface 310 to specifyconditions for presenting reminders. The conditions of interface 310 canapply to any type of electronic message, such as email or text exchangemessages (as shown). A first portion of the interface 310 can establishrules for allowing sender specified reminders, such as those shown bydiagram 200. For example, options 315 can allow all sender establishedreminders, can disallow all sender established reminders, or can allowreminders to be established by authorized senders only. A set ofauthorized senders can be defined 320, such as by adding sets ofauthorized senders through popup 322. Groups of senders as well asindividual senders can be authorized.

Interface 310 can be used to establish recipient 305 specific remindersettings 330. One setting can specify a non-response time out 332, suchas ten minutes, for when the recipient 305 hasn't responded to areceived message. The timeout period 332 for producing a reminder can bea default, which can be adjusted based on a variety of otherconfigurable settings 334-338. For example, reminders can appear onlywhen the received message is unread 334, which can be inferred asdescribed in diagram 200 for text exchange messages. Another conditioncan be that a message has not been responded to 335, or that a textexchange interface for responding is either not on top or is minimized,as shown by option 336. Time of day adjustments can be established peroption 337. Time of day adjustments can permit a recipient 305 toestablish different non-response time-out values for different times ofday. For example, a longer than normal time-out value (e.g., fifteenminutes instead of ten minutes) can be established for messages receivedbetween 3:00 PM and 4:00 PM Monday-Friday, which can be times where arecipient 305 typically handles numerous telephone calls. Additionally,recipient status adjustments 338 can be applied. Status adjustments canrefer to availability settings, such as online, off-line, in meeting,busy, and the like, which are settings available within many textexchange applications. Additionally, sender specific timeouts can bespecified by selecting button 350, which can call up a popup similar topopup 322, yet which allows different timeout durations to beestablished for different sets of senders. In one embodiment, wild cardcharacters can specify group characteristics, such as “*.ibm.com” whichcan apply to all senders having an identity ending in “ibm.com.”

The interface 310 can also permit a recipient 305 to establish whatactions 340 are to be taken when conditions for reminder settings aretriggered. Configurable actions 340 can include, but are not limited to,presenting a popup message 342 to the recipient, automaticallyresponding 343 using a pre-configured message, and the like. Actions 340can even change a communication mode, such as an action 344 that enablesa text exchange communication to be continued through an emailcommunication. Such an action can automatically create an email messagefor the recipient 305 which shows a communication history that occurredin a text-exchange communication, which can make it easier for both thesender and recipient to place the communication continuation in context.Shifting communication modes from a real-time to a non-real time type ofcommunication can be beneficial when significant response delays areanticipated. Similar options can be integrated into email communicationsto permit a recipient 305 to change a communication from a non-real timeto a real-time type of communication, which can be advantageous in manysituations.

It should be emphasized that the invention is not to be construed aslimited to the various options and configuration settings of FIG. 2 andFIG. 3, which are provided to illustrate possible options for messagespecific reminders. Other conditions and actions are to be consideredwithin the scope of the invention. For example, when reminders arepresented, one contemplated option (not shown) can add content of thereminders to a TODO list responsive to a user selection in a situationwhere a message recipient desires to place a reminder in a calendar. Inanother example, an additional action for non-response events canforward an unanswered message to a recipient designated address, such asan email address or a text-exchange account of a co-worker, boss, orsubordinate. In still another example, a recipient action can causecontact information, such as a phone number, to be automaticallyprovided to a sender as well as a suggested time for calling, which isbased on entries in a recipient's calendar. Of course actions to forwardmessages and/or automatically schedule conference times can be limitedto a set of recipient configured senders and/or based on contentspecific criteria.

Additionally, although diagrams 200 and 300 separately show howconditions for reminders can be established by the sender (diagram 200)or a recipient (diagram 300), implementations are contemplated whereboth the sender and recipient are able to establish conditions forreminders. Moreover, the reminder conditions 224 shown in diagram 200can be conditions that the recipient 305 is able to establish.Similarly, the reminder conditions 330 shown in diagram 300 can beconditions available to the sender 205 is able to establish.

Further, although the invention discusses options for email and textexchange communications, the reminders can be easily applied to othercommunication types, which are to be considered within scope of theinvention. For example, digital faxes can be a type of message, whichcan be tied to message specific reminders as easily as email and textexchange messages.

It should be noted that the illustrated interfaces of FIG. 1, FIG. 2,and FIG. 3 are provided to illustrate a functionality of the disclosedinvention. These interfaces are not intended to be comprehensive, andalternative arrangements of elements are contemplated. For example,although all the illustrated interfaces are graphical user interfaces,voice user interfaces can be used to produce equivalent results withregards to establishing reminder conditions and presenting reminders toa user depending upon how these conditions evaluate. In another example,different interface elements, such as menu selections, list boxes,toolbar or ribbon selections, etc. can be utilized in place of theinterface elements shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and/or FIG. 3.

The present invention may be realized in hardware, software or acombination of hardware and software. The present invention may berealized in a centralized fashion in one computer system or in adistributed fashion where different elements are spread across severalinterconnected computer systems. Any kind of computer system or otherapparatus adapted for a carrying out methods described herein is suited.A typical combination of hardware and software may be a general purposecomputer system with a computer program that, when being loaded andexecuted, controls the computer system such that it carries out themethods described herein.

The present invention also may be embedded in a computer programproduct, which comprises all the features enabling the implementation ofthe methods described herein, and which when loaded in a computer systemis able to carry out these methods. Computer program in the presentcontext means any expression, in any language, code or notation, of aset of instructions intended to cause a system having an informationprocessing capability to perform a particular function either directlyor after either or both of the following: a) conversion to anotherlanguage, code or notation; b) reproduction in a different materialform.

1. A method for providing conditional reminders for electronic messagescomprising: identifying an electronic message conveyed from a sender toa recipient, wherein the electronic message is one of an email messageand a text exchange message; a software program determining a responsetime and a response condition for responding to the electronic message;and when the response time expires and when the response condition isunsatisfied, a software program presenting a reminder to at least one ofthe sender and the recipient, where the reminder indicates that aresponse is due.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: asoftware program detecting a recipient action that satisfies theresponse condition before the response time expires, which results in noreminder being presented to either the sender or the recipient.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: within an interface associatedwith an application from which the electronic message was conveyed, thesender establishing a time that actions related to the electronicmessage are to be taken by the recipient, wherein the determinedresponse time is based upon the sender established time.
 4. The methodof claim 3, further comprising: within the interface, the senderconfiguring presentation settings that determine whether the reminder isto be presented on a computer of the sender, on a computer of therecipient, or upon both the computer of the sender and the computer ofthe recipient, wherein the presenting step presents the reminder upon atleast one computer in accordance with the presentation settings
 5. Themethod of claim 3, further comprising: within the interface, the senderconfiguring the response condition, wherein sender configurable responseconditions comprise: a condition to present the reminder when theelectronic message has not been read when the response time expires, acondition to present the reminder when no reply has been sent to theelectronic message when the response time expires, and a condition thatalways presents a reminder when the response time expires.
 6. The methodof claim 3, wherein the interface is an email interface.
 7. The methodof claim 3, wherein the interface is a text exchange interface.
 8. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the presenting step presents the reminder tothe recipient, said method further comprising: within an interfaceassociated with an application to which the electronic message wasconveyed, the recipient establishing a time that actions related to theelectronic message are to be taken by the recipient, wherein thedetermined response time is based upon the recipient established time.9. The method of claim 8, further comprising: within the interface, therecipient establishing for different sets of senders, different timesthat actions related to the electronic message are to be taken by therecipient, wherein the determined response time is determined frommatching a sender of the electronic message to one of the different setsof senders and basing the response time of the sender set specific timeestablished by the recipient.
 10. The method of claim 8, furthercomprising: within the interface, the recipient establishing a pluralityof sets of words, wherein different sets of words are associated withdifferent recipient established times that actions related to theelectronic message are to be taken; and a program searching theelectronic message to match words contained within the electronicmessage to words contained within said sets of words, wherein saiddetermined response time is based upon results of the searching step.11. The method of claim 8, wherein the interface is an email interface.12. The method of claim 8, wherein the interface is a text exchangeinterface.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein the electronic message isa text exchange message, wherein the reminder is presented to thesender, wherein the reminder comprises a message that indicates to thesender that the recipient will continue communications of an originaltext exchange session by replying within an email message.
 14. A methodfor presenting reminders related to electronic messages comprising:identifying a sent electronic message; detecting a conditional reminderestablished for the electronic message, said conditional reminderspecifying an evaluation time and at least one evaluation condition;monitoring activities conducted with a message handling interface that arecipient of the electronic message uses to interact; using results frommonitoring the activities to determine if the at least one evaluationcondition has been satisfied; and when the evaluation time expires andwhen the at least one evaluation condition is unsatisfied, presenting areminder to at least one of the sender and one or more recipients, wherethe reminder indicates that an action relating to the receivedelectronic message is needed.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein theelectronic message is a text exchange message, and wherein the messagehandling interface is a text exchange interface.
 16. The method of claim14, wherein the electronic message is an email message, and wherein themessage handling interface is an email interface.
 17. The method ofclaim 14, wherein the steps of claim 14 are performed by at least onemachine in accordance with at least one computer program stored in acomputer readable media, said computer programming having a plurality ofcode sections that are executable by the at least one machine.
 18. Asoftware program for presenting reminders relating to electronicmessages comprising: a condition evaluation engine configured toidentify a set of conditions established for an electronic message,which has been sent from a sender to a recipient, wherein the set ofconditions are configurable message-specific conditions established byat least one of the sender and one or more recipients, whereinconditions able to be evaluated by the condition evaluation engineinclude whether the electronic message has been read and whether theelectronic message has been responded to, wherein whether the conditionshave occurred is determined at an expiration of an evaluation responsetime, which is established for the electronic message by at least one ofthe sender and one or more recipients, wherein at least one conditionalaction is taken by the condition evaluation engine when the conditionsare unsatisfied at the expiration of the evaluation response time,wherein the conditional action comprises presenting a notification to atleast one of the sender and the recipient that indicates an actionrelated to the received electronic message is needed, and wherein thecondition evaluation engine is implemented in software stored in amachine readable medium, said software causing a machine executing thesoftware to perform a set of actions for which the condition evaluationengine is configured.
 19. The software program of claim 18, wherein theelectronic message is a text exchange message.
 20. The software programof claim 18, wherein the electronic message is an email message.